Sampras or Djokovic Forehand

[TennisBatman]

Sampras and Djokovic had good secondary weapons (the forehand) to complement their main weapon (the serve for Sampras and the backhand for Djokovic)

Which player (in their prime) has the better forehand?

[90's Clay]

Two different kind of FH's. Its tough to compare because Nole has the benefit of modern racket technology, while Pete played with the old small wilson pro-staff. It was crazy with the ability of power and pace Pete could generate from the FH side with inferior racket technology and such a small racket.. Especially what he could do one the run with that FH..

[guitarplayer]

Are you serious? Sampras forehand was average.

[MichaelNadal]

Originally Posted by guitarplayer

Are you serious? Sampras forehand was average.

[Lsmkenpo]

Sampras by a mile, Djokovic forehand is over rated. Sampras's running forehand was one of the best ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_DFj...6E1B0EA3B81428

[ZeroSkid]

Djokovic's forehand is highly underrated

[YellowBall77]

Djokovic. I like the Western Grip/across the body combination. Give him plenty of spin but a 'tight spin' which makes his ball appear flatter and go deeper. A very solid, reliable shot with tons of pace and depth. Probably better than Sampras'

[BevelDevil]

Pete's fh better on fast courts.
Djoker's fh better on slow courts (i.e., most courts today).


For the 90s era, I think Pete had one of the best forehands for non-clay.

[YellowBall77]

Originally Posted by BevelDevil

Pete's fh better on fast courts.
Djoker's fh better on slow courts (i.e., most courts today).


For the 90s era, I think Pete had one of the best forehands for non-clay.

Not a bad assessment.

[Russeljones]

Originally Posted by guitarplayer

Are you serious? Sampras forehand was average.

Bwahahaha.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

Two different kind of FH's. Its tough to compare because Nole has the benefit of modern racket technology, while Pete played with the old small wilson pro-staff. It was crazy with the ability of power and pace Pete could generate from the FH side with inferior racket technology and such a small racket.. Especially what he could do one the run with that FH..

Most people don't even know what Djokovic is using underneath his paintjob, and on top of that, explain to me how "Youtek" and "Innegra" are supposed to contribute to the tennis racquet. I'm not buying that marketing crap.

How is a blend of graphite and kevlar "inferior" to current graphite racquets?

Lastly, a lot of the pros are still using the frames from that era underneath their paintjobs.

In today's tour, I would have to go with Djokovic. It's hard to compared as they have very different forehands, effective in their own rights. Djokovic's forehand has more spin, while Sampras had a flatter shot. Since points are won by errors not by out-right winners, I'll take Djokovic's forehand.

[Nathaniel_Near]

I would take Pete's if the tour was absolutely balanced between slow, medium, and fast paced courts.

[YellowBall77]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

Most people don't even know what Djokovic is using underneath his paintjob, and on top of that, explain to me how "Youtek" and "Innegra" is supposed to contribute to the tennis racquet. I'm not buying that marketing crap.

How is a blend of graphite and kevlar "inferior" to current graphite racquets?

Lastly, a lot of the pros are still using the frames from that era underneath their paintjobs.

In today's tour, I would have to go with Djokovic. It's hard to compared as they have very different forehands, effective in their own rights. Djokovic's forehand has more spin, while Sampras had a flatter shot. Since points are won by errors not by out-right winners, I'll take Djokovic's forehand.

I'm pretty sure Djoker uses some type of Liquidmetal Radical paint job. So yeah, the technology is not that new in his racquet. The western grip and open stance is definitely more modern as are the strings. Overall, Djoker's forehand is probably a notch above Sampras' in that it would outperform Sampras's head to head.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel_Near

I would take Pete's if the tour was absolutely balanced between slow, medium, and fast paced courts.

Said it even better than I could have. But when everything is slow and each point lasts as long as a minute. Gotta play the %.

When the point isn't over within 10 strokes, it's time to start roll them in unfortunately.

[Nathaniel_Near]

Here is what I would take from either player:

Forehand - Pete
Backhand - Nole
Serve - Pete
Volley - Pete
Overhead - Pete
Movement - Nole
Mental Strength - Pete
Shotmaking - Pete
Slice - Pete
Drop shot n lobs - Nole
Passing Shots - tie
Return - Nole
Stamina - Nole

[abmk]

sampras on grass and indoors , djoker's on clay and slow HC , very close on medium-fast to fast HC ...

[abmk]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel_Near

Here is what I would take from either player:

Forehand - Pete
Backhand - Nole
Serve - Pete
Volley - Pete
Overhead - Pete
Movement - Nole
Mental Strength - Pete
Shotmaking - Pete
Slice - Pete
Drop shot n lobs - Nole
Passing Shots - tie
Return - Nole
Stamina - Nole

how dare you insult djoker's epic smashing capabilities by putting pete ahead of him in that department ?

[Nathaniel_Near]

Originally Posted by abmk

how dare you insult djoker's epic smashing capabilities by putting pete ahead of him in that department ?

Lol. That call was even easier than the serve call.

[abmk]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel_Near

Lol. That call was even easier than the serve call.

indeed .....the best way to close out a match vs djoker is an unreturnable ( if you are serving ) , otherwise, bring him to the net and lob him, its way better than trying to hit scorching forehands or backhands or trying to move him side to side

Mental strength - overall sampras , but djoker 2011 seemed to be superior in that dept than sampras at any point in his career ......

[2ndServe]

dependant on your game style. If Novak had Pete's forehand it wouldn't work for him and if Pete had Novak's forehand it wouldn't do much for him. btw Pete moved forward and continuously through his forehand 10 times better than Novak. It's part of why he can volley so better. Except clay Pete's forehand is better, he moved through it so well if he didn't hit a winner on a short ball he'd be all over the net to smash the next ball. Way more variety on Pete's fh and it had tons more spin than most people realized.